I grew up enjoying and studying old book illustrations and etchings, black-and-white films and television, and decades of daily newspaper comics. So much info in those simple shades of gray! Anyone with half an imagination could fill in the blanks and then some. And I did.

A #2 pencil became my weapon of choice. It amazed my childhood self to know that with it I could either draw a scene or write one, caress the paper or cut it -- a full range of emotion. The pencil instantly became my fave medium and it still is.

At some point I came to the conclusion that a work done in pencil is just a preliminary sketch, something throw-away-able no matter how detailed or intricate. It was the next step before ink or paint. A skeleton or foundation to be covered over, or erased. And I continued to believe that for ages, even though some 'befores' and 'afters' created by my favorite artists told me otherwise. I almost always preferred the pencil creations over the finished paintings or ink drawings. They seemed fresher. More vibrant. Free and unbound. Alive. Ideas caught up in the joy of their birth.

For the greater part of my learning years my goal was to produce a finished piece that looked photo-realistic. But the closer I got, the more drawing bored me. It felt like a job. One that I didn't want to get up for and go to.

Something had to change.

So I cut myself off from that old style, the one that meant spending days or weeks on a single piece because I was just that picky. I started wondering what I could accomplish in a day, an hour, five minutes. What if I didn't have an eraser? What if I drew with a permanent marker? Could I live with my mistakes? I was humbled. I felt like I was learning to draw all over again. And eventually I began surprising myself.

Now every blank page is a wonder. Putting pencil to paper is fun again. All that photo-realism stuff took itself so seriously. And life is so much shorter for me now. I want to spend it playing. I want to spend it being surprised.

My studio's core is in an upstairs former bedroom, but over time it's exploded to include my whole house proper. It's hard to tell now where the magick happens. I have multiple interests (housework isn't one of them) and I routinely get carried away by something. I've surrounded myself with clutter and animals, toys and plants, creative supplies, BOOKS. Things that spark my imagination and fill my well.

I work full-time as an artist now, not because it's making me rich (:-D) but because it allows time to spend on the things that matter most to me. By necessity I've become frugal and very DIY. So life for me has melted into days full of books and animals and art supplies and play, all the thoughts and feels and pats and smiles. And if I could add more hours to the days, I would. :)

Lead- and colored-pencil are still my go-to's, but I also dabble in resins, mixed media, metalwork, beads, found objects, upcycled items, and a host of others. So you can expect a mish-mash here. I hope that's ok. I enjoy experimenting. But I always come back to earth and reach for the pencils. So you'll find pencil art here, too.

Thank you, Etsy, for this platform upon which I can display my work. And thank YOU, my friend, for letting me share it with you. I hope it makes you smile.

:)
...delayne.